


W.E.B.

by orphan_account



Category: Avengers, Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: AU, Avengers AU, F/F, Gen, Iron Man 3 AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-07
Updated: 2014-01-27
Packaged: 2018-01-07 22:29:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1125151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Now that the aliens are gone, the superhumans are left, and the public is scared. The people are starting to wonder whether the Avengers are heroes anymore, because they're starting to look more like threats. (takes place in an AU post-Avengers, and post-IM3, where Pepper retains the effects of the Extremis virus).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

In the absence of a threat, it seemed to be human nature to imagine one. The Chitauri and Loki were long gone now, and once the heroic, warm glow around the Avengers had faded, the public faced the fact that superhumans existed, and didn’t quite know what to with that. So, true to human nature, they panicked.

Since the Avengers were rogue and not affiliated with the government, many people thought they could not be trusted, and could be considered a threat. People were afraid of power when it was under no one’s control, and that was exactly what the Avengers constituted. The only one who was remotely trusted was Steve Rogers, because he projected the Captain America good ol’ boy persona, but even he was under scrutiny these days. The public often described the rest of the team as follows: an overpowered alien, an uncontrollable monster, an egotist with access to far too many weapons, an unhinged Robin Hood wannabe, and a shady foreign spy. Natasha knew for a fact that of all those things, Americans hated shady foreigners the most.

No one outside of SHIELD knew much about Natasha’s history - hell, most people _inside_ SHIELD didn’t know much about her history, save Barton, Hill, and Fury. Natasha liked to keep it that way. Even without people knowing what she was and where she had come from, however, people were still suspicious. The void in knowledge made them speculate every possible thing, and some of them were closer to the mark than others. Natasha would still rather have them speculate, however, than come any closer to the truth. She was fairly sure that the truth would definitely not make them happy.

Today, however, was about protecting someone else, and not about her own history. SHIELD had gotten wind of what had really happened during the Mandarin incident, and they knew about the Extremis virus. Rumors about what happened were circulating in the public sphere, and many people were wondering why the CEO of Stark Industries was being so reclusive lately. She still ran the company, but never came out in public anymore, and hardly anyone but Stark and Hogan had seen her since the incident.

So SHIELD had sent Natasha to Stark Tower to keep an eye on Pepper, both to keep an eye on how she was doing, and to protect her in case someone found out about the Extremis virus and tried to attack her. Tony had been able to figure out how to keep the virus at a manageable level, so that it wouldn’t kill Pepper, and she wouldn’t explode, but he hadn’t been able to get rid of it entirely. So Pepper lived with it quietly now, and Natasha hadn’t heard anything from either of them since she had found out about that. She was glad SHIELD had sent her and not someone else, because she had to admit, she worried about Pepper, and at least Pepper knew her personally, rather than having to deal with some random SHIELD agents.

Still, though, Natasha didn’t receive a very happy welcome.

“I can’t make you leave, Natasha, but I am letting you know right now that I don’t like this one bit. I may be ill, but I don’t need to be babysat.” Pepper was sitting on the sofa, looking out over the balcony, when Natasha entered the room. She looked around for Stark, but he didn’t appear to be in here, thank heavens.

“I’m not here to babysit you, and I know you can handle yourself. I’m stationed here, SHIELD orders. And my job is to keep you safe if something happens. Let’s hope it won’t.” Natasha approached Pepper, but didn’t sit down, keeping a distance for now. There was a cold sort of anger in Pepper’s face, something she hadn’t seen in her before, but she had the feeling it wasn’t directed at her. Pepper was probably mad about many things - Tony, Killian, probably the entire world at this point. Natasha saw a bit of herself in Pepper’s face, and she wasn’t sure how much she liked it.

Hardened. That was the word. Pepper’s face looked hardened, and she looked like she had lost what gentleness she had had. Natasha supposed she had looked like that once too, toward the beginning. But there hadn’t been any softness to Natasha for a very, very long time.

“I can keep myself safe.” Pepper didn’t look at her. “If someone tries to attack me, I’ll just set them on fire.” It sounded like Pepper was making a half-hearted joke, but from Pepper’s expression, Natasha wasn’t entirely sure if Pepper was joking or not.

“Look, I’m perfectly capable of protecting myself, too. But it’s better in teams.” Natasha sat down at the other end of the couch, still keeping her distance. She was trying to keep her personal feelings out of this, and didn’t want to crowd Pepper. She knew she was probably a lot more fond of Pepper than Pepper was of her, and it was fine with her if it stayed that way. This wasn’t a situation where feelings were a factor, this was a SHIELD mission.

Pepper was silent for a while, and Natasha waited for her to speak, wishing there was something she could do to help her. Protecting her was the best she could do, but she wanted to do more than that. Finally, Pepper spoke, and when she did, her face looked more sad than angry, as if she had given up.

“I’ve forgotten my manners,” she said, her tone less hostile now, and she got up, gesturing for Natasha to get up and follow her. “Let me show you where you’ll be living. It’s a suite next to mine, and not where you were living as Natalie Rushman.” Natasha noticed how she didn’t say that the suite was hers and Tony’s - it was just hers, apparently. She wondered if the two of them were still together. It also surprised her that her suite was next to Pepper’s, although she supposed that was for protection reasons only.

“Thank you for allowing this, Pepper. I know it’s not pleasant.” There was an unsaid “thank you” in Natasha’s tone. _Thank you for letting me keep close to you. Thank you for letting me try to keep you safe._

“I don’t like it, but I recognize why SHIELD did it. And I would rather it be you than anyone else there.” Pepper stopped in front of the door to Natasha’s suite, and handed her the key. Natasha’s hand brushed Pepper’s for a moment as she took it, and she shoved down that little flicker of emotion she almost let herself feel.

“Thank you, Pepper. That means a lot, and I’ll try to make this as comfortable for you as it can be.” Natasha paused. “Is it just us here, or does Tony live here too?”

“Just us. I don’t have any idea where Tony is, but he hasn’t lived here since the incident. This is my company and my tower. He insisted on building more suits, so he has a lab elsewhere to do so, away from here.” Pepper’s tone was a bit brisk, and Natasha stifled a wince. Apparently that was a touchy subject. But at least they wouldn’t have to worry about Stark’s antics, and it might actually be peaceful here for once.

“All right,” Natasha said, dropping the subject for now. “I’ll go ahead and get myself settled in, but if you need me, just go ahead and knock.” She paused. “Or if you just want to stop by. That’s fine, too.” Pepper looked a little surprised at the last two sentences, and for a moment, her expression softened.

“I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you. I’ll see you at dinner later, then. 6 o’clock.” Pepper nodded at Natasha, and turned on her heel to go. Natasha watched her go, trying to keep her emotions neutral. She was here to protect Pepper, but she would keep an emotional distance. It was better that way.

And if something _did_ happen to Pepper? She didn’t want to get too close.


	2. Chapter 2

Pepper’s feelings about being watched by a SHIELD agent were complicated, but as the days went on, she was relieved, at least, that it was Natasha. Pepper could pretend that Natasha had just come to live with her instead of living at SHIELD, and she liked to think, sometimes, that they were friends. They had had a rough start, back when Natasha was masquerading as Natalie, but Pepper had to admit, it was nice not to be alone, and Natasha was good company.

They shared lunch and dinner together, because Natasha got up far earlier than Pepper and kept a strict exercise regimen. When Pepper woke up, usually around 7 AM, Natasha was usually coming home from her morning run, and Pepper did her best to give Natasha a sleepy “good morning” before Natasha disappeared into the shower.

It was nice not to eat alone, and Pepper noticed that she smiled more, now that Natasha was around. Natasha’s quiet presence helped her deal with things a little, and for that, she was grateful. She still didn’t appreciate the SHIELD surveillance, but she hoped that she could trust Natasha to look out for her best interests where SHIELD was involved. Natasha was a good woman, even if she denied it when you told her so.

When Natasha came to dinner tonight, however, Pepper could tell there was something wrong. Natasha didn’t say anything about it, and got her food as usual, but something had changed in the way she carried herself. She was tense, and her eyes looked like she expected someone to attack any minute. She sat down with Pepper and said nothing about it, and Pepper watched her for a moment, worried. She considered asking her how her day was, but if something was wrong, Natasha wasn’t likely to divulge it from that question alone.

“Are - are you okay?” Pepper’s voice was a little stilted, because she wasn’t used to comforting people or dealing with other people’s problems, with the exception of Tony. But Tony’s problems were a whole different breed of problem, and completely different to the things Natasha dealt with. Natasha looked up at her, looking surprised that she had asked.

“Haven’t you seen the news today?” Natasha asked, which wasn’t the answer Pepper had expected.

“No, I...I was doing paperwork, and I had meetings. I didn’t have time to keep track of the news today,” Pepper said, and watched as Natasha pulled out her phone, pulling something up on its screen. Natasha slid her phone across to Pepper, and Pepper picked it up, looking at the article that Natasha had loaded. When she saw the headline, she felt a jolt of fear.

 _Natalie Rushman’s Secrets Revealed - Foreign, Genetically Enhanced, Former Assassin._ When Pepper looked at the headline, she wasn’t even sure if it was true at first. She didn’t actually know that much about Natasha’s history, only that she worked for SHIELD, and still went by the alias Natalie Rushman in the public eye. She knew she was Russian, too, and there wasn’t anything wrong with that, but that combined with what the other things the article was claiming would make Natasha instantly mistrusted among the American people.

Natasha took her phone back before Pepper could read the full article, and Pepper let her, feeling a little shaken. Natasha’s expression was solemn, and she didn’t speak.

“Is any of this true, Natasha?” Pepper asked, praying she didn’t sound accusatory. Natasha nodded.

“They got most of it right, yes. But I didn’t want you to read it, I...wanted to tell you myself. Since it’s out in the open, anyway.” There was something flat in Natasha’s voice, and her eyes looked faraway now. “I was trained as an assassin for the KGB during the Cold War. They lengthened my lifespan and physically enhanced me. It’s been decades since I’ve associated with them, and they’ve tried to kill me multiple times for being a deserter. Agent Barton brought me into SHIELD instead of killing me, and I have been working for them ever since.” She paused. “I’m not a threat to you, Pepper. But I wouldn’t blame you if you thought so.”

Pepper watched Natasha, trying to process this, and feeling a sick mix of emotions. There was anger and fear on Natasha’s behalf, and she hated that this had been done to her. She wondered how old Natasha was, if she had been around during the Cold War. With a sick jolt, she realized they must have started her training as a child.

“I don’t consider you a threat, Natasha,” Pepper finally said, her voice a little shaky. Natasha seemed to be handling this better than she was. “You’re much more physically capable than me, and if you wanted me gone, I would be. You’re still a SHIELD agent. But you haven’t done anything to harm me. So I trust you.” She wondered briefly if that was a mistake.

Natasha nodded slowly, and didn’t say anything for a while, so Pepper continued.

“But I’m worried about us - about you. If the public thinks you’re a threat, you’re in danger,” she said.

“There’s nothing we can do but monitor the situation and make sure it doesn’t get worse. I’m more worried about them finding out about you. But I’ll do my best to keep you safe,” Natasha said, and Pepper’s lips tightened a bit.

“This is an issue that concerns you, not me. I’ve been staying out of the public eye, and I plan to continue doing so. I have the virus under control, and as long as I don’t accidentally set something on fire during a meeting, there won’t be a problem. I’m not going to let you forego your safety because of currently imaginary threats aimed at me.” Pepper was bristling a bit now. “And if there’s anything I’m able to do to protect you, I’ll do that. Let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that.”

Natasha looked surprised that Pepper was so angry about this, but other than that, Pepper couldn’t read her face very well. She had gotten better at picking up on Natasha’s moods since she had been here, but Natasha was still a very closed book, and she knew that when Natasha wanted to hide something, it was going to stay hidden.

“With any luck, nothing will come of this, and people will forget about me in time. I don’t plan on showing my face in public until further notice.” There was a slight instability in Natasha’s voice, and Pepper could tell she was more scared than she let on, but she didn’t comment on it.

“Let’s hope so,” Pepper said, a bit at a loss for anything else to say. Natasha didn’t respond, and began to eat her food, so Pepper figured the conversation was over now. She didn’t like how scared this had made Natasha, though, and she had to admit, she was worried. There had been a lot of anti-superhuman vitriol in the news lately, and this was the last thing Natasha needed.

When it came down to it, Pepper knew now that she had to keep Natasha safe, whether the other woman wanted it or not. It was only fair. Natasha had been right, when she had first come to keep watch over Pepper - they were better as a team.


	3. Chapter 3

Natasha had started to accompany Pepper to work for her personal safety, again under the guise of another personal assistant, Jessica Carlton. Natasha found she didn’t mind being a secretary so much when it was just Pepper she was monitoring. The lack of Stark definitely made things a lot easier, and Pepper seemed calmer when Natasha was around. She had even dyed her hair a dark brown for the occasion, and without the red, she was able to sink into the background and be ignored.

The day was almost over, and Pepper was waiting for her last appointment, a representative from a small company who wanted to negotiate working with Stark Industries. It wasn’t of any interest to Natasha, and she hoped it would be over soon. It had been a long day, and even though Pepper was good at masking it, she could tell that Pepper was tired. They were alone in her office, and Natasha took Pepper’s hand for a moment, giving it a brief squeeze before the representative arrived. Pepper looked a little surprised at the gesture, but her expression softened a little, and Natasha hoped that was a small comfort, at least.

When someone knocked at the door, Natasha stood up to answer it. She offered a hand to shake to the man who stepped inside. “Jessica Carlton, sir. I’m Ms. Potts’ personal assistant, so if you have any questions after the meeting about logistics, I’ll take care of them.” The man nodded, and stepped past her, seeming indifferent to her. Natasha was used to that, since she was playing the role of a secretary, so she stepped aside, letting him approach Pepper.

“Ms. Potts,” the man said, reaching forward to shake Pepper’s hand now. His grip was firmer than it had been with Natasha, and she realized a moment later that he wasn’t exactly letting go. She didn’t have time to process this, however, because a second later, Pepper screamed and wrenched her hand away.

Natasha caught a flash of orange as the man withdrew his hand, and for a moment, she thought that Pepper had lost control of herself for a moment and had burned the man. The man began to advance on Pepper, though, and when she caught a glimpse of his hand again, it was definitely _him_ that was orange. Natasha stepped between them, stopping him cold with a knife to his throat.

“Stand down.” Natasha knew she was at a disadvantage in this situation, being the only human in the room who couldn’t set things on fire, but if it had to get violent, she’d rather settle things with a weapon and not have to get Pepper involved. The man’s eyes flashed orange as he leered at her, and then he took the blade of the knife in his hand, hissing in pain as the metal slowly melted through his fingers. Natasha dropped the knife, backing away, and took Pepper’s arm, still determined to defend her at all costs.

“Natasha, you’ll get burned - “ Pepper began, but Natasha cut her off.

“This is my job, Pepper.” She had slowly been maneuvering them toward the door, but then the man shot a blast of fire at them, and she stifled a shriek, ducking down and shielding Pepper. Pepper struggled out from under her, though, her own eyes glowing orange. She stepped in front of Natasha, sending her own blast of fire at the man. Things were catching fire in Pepper’s office now, and all Natasha could focus on was dodging falling, fiery objects.

She knew she was out of her element here, and that she’d get burned if she touched the man, but she had a job to do, and she wasn’t going to let Pepper get hurt on her behalf. Pepper hadn’t practiced controlling her powers, and Natasha was trained for combat situations like this. She lunged forward toward the man and twisted him downward, biting down a hiss of pain as her hands touched his burning flesh. He let loose a blast of fire, and she felt part of her hair singe, barely able to dodge it. She managed to pin him to the floor, and kept him there, surprised when he suddenly stopped fighting.

The burn in her hands was getting worse though, and as Natasha watched, the man glowed brighter and brighter orange, shaking beneath her chokehold. Pepper grabbed at her, trying to pull her away.

“Natasha, we have to get out of here! Now!”

The pain was almost blinding Natasha now, and it took her a moment to respond and realize what was happening. She struggled upward, holding Pepper’s hand even though her own screamed in pain, and they ran out the door, trying to get as far away as possible. Pepper pulled the fire alarm on the way out, and shouted that everyone needed to evacuate the building. The two of them ran inside a stairwell, just in time to shelter themselves from the explosion. Natasha and Pepper clung to each other, riding out the shockwave, and when the explosion was over, they stumbled down the stairs with the rest of the people, not stopping until they got to the ground floor.

“Natasha, your hands!” Pepper finally got a good look at her when they got out of the building. Natasha shook her head, knowing they had to get further away. She’d suffered worse before, and they could tend to her hands once they were safe.

“I’m taking you to SHIELD. We’ll be safe there until we figure out what just happened.” Natasha’s voice was rough with pain, and she pulled Pepper toward one of the company cars, knowing that the police would come soon and ask questions. People were already starting to swarm, and Pepper waved them off, walking a bit more quickly.

“My assistant needs urgent medical attention, I don’t have time for questions!” Pepper slipped into the driver’s seat of the car, and Natasha got in beside her, taking deep breaths to try and work through the pain.

“You better not take me to the emergency room,” Natasha warned, but Pepper shook her head.

“You said SHIELD. I’ve been there before, and I trust you.” Pepper’s voice was shaking, but she managed to drive the car safely all the way to SHIELD. They didn’t talk again until they were both inside, and Pepper made Natasha go to the medbay to tend to her hands.

“It...it wasn’t her fault. Someone attacked us. She didn’t do this.” Natasha was hazy, falling in and out of consciousness, but she wanted more than anything to make that clear. “Someone else infected with the Extremis virus...he exploded.” She lost track of things after that, and didn’t wake up until a while later.

Pepper was sitting at her bedside, and they appeared to be in Natasha’s private quarters, rather than the medbay.

“I made them allow us to be in here, instead of medbay,” Pepper offered softly, as an explanation. Natasha sat up, wincing when she moved her hands, which were bandaged now, along with her other burns. Those would be some scars to add to the collection.

“Thanks,” Natasha said, propping herself up against her pillows. “No one will be able to get inside SHIELD to question you. So we’re okay for now.” Pepper nodded, but still looked unsettled.

“It’s all over the news now, and they suspect me. The media went right to the Extremis virus, and I don’t know how they knew about it. Tony and I tried to keep that as secret as we could.”

“Things get around.” Natasha shrugged a little. “Now we just have to deal with the aftermath. They’re all going to come down hard on both of us for this, especially since people outside probably heard an altercation. I’ll handle PR when it happens, seeing as I’m your assistant in the public eye.” Pepper frowned, and put her hand over Natasha’s briefly, her touch extremely gentle, and Natasha’s face flushed a little.

“You’re hurt, Natasha, and you’ve already done enough for me. I’ll handle it from here. If there’s anything I know well, it’s PR.” Pepper lifted her hand from Natasha’s, and her voice got quieter. “You didn’t have to do that, you know. Strangle him, I mean. You got yourself badly hurt.”

“My job is to protect you, Pepper. He melted my knife, and I wasn’t going to use my gun on a presumed innocent.” Natasha couldn’t quite look Pepper in the eye, not used to being cared about like this.

“Remember when you first came to watch over me, Natasha? We said we’d protect each other, not just you protecting me. And I’m going to hold us both to our word, myself included.” Pepper’s expression now was a face Natasha knew well - her stubborn, “This is going to happen, so help me God” face. Natasha knew there was no persuading her, and she didn’t have the energy to argue.

“All right,” Natasha conceded, laying back down, because the pain was making her head throb. Pepper leaned forward and brushed Natasha’s hair back from her face, and Natasha felt her face flush again. This was more familiar than Pepper had ever been with her, but she was too doped up on painkillers to think about it clearly. She told herself it was probably because they had both almost died.

“Sleep, all right? I’ll keep watch over you,” Pepper said quietly, and Natasha bit back a protest, both from drowsiness and the fact that she knew it wouldn’t do any good. Something in her mind was telling her that for once in her life, it was better to let herself be protected.


End file.
